Toonami Duel Side Story - Five Years Before
by The Happyman
Summary: Based on Toonami Duel by NocturneD. Five years before Toonami Duel earned wide recognition, this is the story of a single duelist who forced the sport through the last days of infancy.


Notes:  Original Toonami Duel concept by NocturneD.  All cards use characters and elements copywrited to their respective owners.  Some cards use characters and elements not actually seen on Toonami.  These are from shows related to shows on Toonami (ex. Mobile Suit Gundam has many series not yet seen in America, such as Z Gundam, ZZ Gundam, and V Gundam.  Dragonball GT is not yet available in America, but Dragonball and Dragonball Z have been on Toonami.)  I've included elements from some of these related shows.  If a character, mecha, or concept is unfamiliar to you, I suggest looking up the series on www.anipike.com for or checking www.MAHQ.net for anything mecha related.

            _The time is five years before NocturneDoom registered for the Toonami Duel league.  The world is much the same, but the duels are done differently.  Toonami Duel has not yet been commercialized.  It's an underground sport, still somewhat unknown, held in secret.  The judges are still human.  Duelists don't wear the VR helmets yet.  The technology of that time was only beginning to make those elements practical.  The rules are also more lax.  Though many factors contributed to the stricter policies and enforcements of the league officials, the largest catalyst of change was a particular duelist, who fought harder than any before him to retain his place in the game…_

            The arena was alive with cheering fans.  They chanted his name over and over, as though to invoke his presence.  They stomped their feet and pounded the bleachers in front of them.

(Sheep.  They're all such sheep.)

            His competition stepped to his platform first.  It was customary for the challenger to enter before the challenged.  His eyes were intense and focused as he laid his cards in front of him, setting them in orderly piles for quick refence and use, turning his most useful pieces sideways so he'd be able to grab them at a moment's notice.  When he finished his preparations, he looked to the crowd and raised his arms.  There was no reaction.  Only the chanting.

(Poor bastard.  He'll play fierce.  Won't have to work hard to make this a good show.  They won't care, though.  They just want to see me notch another win in the tree.  Morons.)

            Finally, the star arrived.  As he moved to his side of the field, the crowd exploded.  He never even looked at them.  He kept his hands in his pockets as his long coat and brown ponytail blew in the typhoon of praise.  He dropped his cards on the table before him.  Two piles – character and element.  Thenhe turned to the judge and nodded.

            "This is a quarter-finals match!"  Announced the judge.  "The winner today will move on to the semi-finals!  On the south side of the field, coming from Lower-Arctica region 7, is the challenger… Aenslad Dimitri!"

            Aenslad raised his arms again.  This time his supporters could be heard through the rest of the mob, a few rows here and there cheering for him.  The other competitor smiled.

(That's encouraging.  Still people out there who root for the underdog… or who, at least, don't flock to the favorite.  This guy's got some fans.  Must not be too bad, then.)

            The judge began again, "And on the north side, hailing from the Lysk Forest, region 34… The Happyman!"  The crowd erupts again, screaming for their hero.

(God, that's embarassing…)

            When the crowd calmed down, the judge continued.  "Competitors, this is to be a basic duel.  No special stipulations.  Feel free to alter the playfield any way you see fit, use whatever character cards you'd like, and implement element cards however you choose.  The field you'll be using is a desert type, and as you can see, there are many obstacles.  Cliffs, plateaus, ravines, crevices, all of which can mean success or defeat if used correctly.  Are you ready?"

            Aenslad gave a thumbs up.  "I'm all set."

            Happyman nodded.  "Ready."

            "FIGHT!"

            Aenslad chose his leading fighter without hesitation.  "I summon Dorothy One!"  He turns the card over and slaps it back on the table, sending the four story tall robot into the field.

            The Happyman slides a card from the top of his character deck, looks at it, and smirks.

(Pulling at random always makes things interesting…)

            "Rick Dom squad."  Smiling and staring across at Aenslad, Happyman lays the card down and taps it with his index finger.  Dorothy One finds herelf surrounded by three black and purple mobile suits carrying beam bazookas.

            "Scatter."

            "Dorothy One, cutter tentacles now, aim for the one to your right!"

            It was too late, though.  The Doms had already slid away behind the rocks.  Dorothy whipped her cutters towards the nearest hill, slashing it down to size, but nothing was behind it.  She retracted the tentacles and began to walk, searching for her opponents.

            Very quietly, Happyman gave his next order.  "One and two, up high.  Three, melee.  Now."  Two of the doms launched into the air from where they hid.  Dorothy One saw them as they rose, and threw her cutters into the air after them.

            "Not going to catch them before they fire…"  Aenslad drew an element card.  "Speed, Dorothy One!"  The element had immediate effect, and Dorothy's cutters raced even faster towards their intended targets.  The Doms, however, had already aimed their weapons.  All that remained was waiting for the time to fire.

            The third Dom had been maneuvering between the hills, making it's way toward Dorothy One with it's heat saber drawn.  The pink mecha didn't even see it until it slid around a corner about 300 yards to her left.  She retracted the cutters on her left arm as she lowered it to intercept, and the two Doms above her fired.  A pair of beams struck the ground around her, throwing massive clouds of dust and debris up.  The effects of the speed card were powerful enough so she could roll away before the beams converged on her.  Finally having retracted her cutters, she formed them into a claw and lunged for the Dom on the ground..  She caught one of the Dom's arms as it swung it's sabre, but the Dom simply released it's grip with that hand and continued to swing.  Dorothy barely managed to duck beneath the superheated blade.

            Aenslad watched as the Doms in the air repositioned themselves to fire again.  "She's gonna need some help out there… I summon Tienshinhan!"  He slaps the fresh character card onto the table and sends the new combatant into the fray.

            "Two and three, intercept the newcomer.  One, blind the robot and finish it."

            Doms two and three raised their weapons towards Tien as he sped through the air towards them and fired.  Tien fired as well.

            "YAAAAAAAAA!"

            His blast connected with one of the machines, shattering it's armor and tearing off it's left arm.  As it dropped it's beam bazooka, the other Dom fired.  Tien was consumed entirely by the blast, and was no more.  The blast itself continued to travel, striking the ground ten feet short of the audience.

            On the ground, the first Dom flashed it's scattering beam gun, blinding Dorothy One.  Still held by her claw, the Dom tossed it's heat saber into the air, catching it upside down, and plunged it into Dorothy's chest.  Releasing the weapon again and grabbing it right-side-up, the Dom pulled the sabre up and through the robot, bisecting the head.  Dorothy One exploded.

            The crowd cheered for their hero, the undefeated champion.

            (Semi-finals… maybe there'll be some competition there.  I can only hope…)

            After the battle, trucks took the competitors and the judge to the central platform.  Aenslad and Happyman shook hands for the fans.  The small amount of prize money was handed out, and the stadium began to clear out.  The judge pulled Happyman aside.

            "Hey, good fight out there tonight"

            Happyman looked at the man from behind his nearly opaque sunglasses.  "Sure."

            "That one shot, though… that was kinda close to the bleachers, don't you think?"

            Happyman continued to look at the judge.

            "That doesn't concern you?"

            "It's a dangerous sport.  We're playing with shit we don't really understand out there."

            "Yeah, well, we can't have the audience getting nuked."

            "That was beam weaponry.  Concentrated mega-particles launched at an incredible velocity.  Tears through just about everything in it's path.  No splash damage.  It's not a nuke."

            "Whatever, just try to keep it in the arena, ok?"

            Happyman smirked at the judge and began to walk away.  "I make no guarentees."

            "Hey!"  The judge was getting angry.  "You'd damn well better make a guarentee!  Those are people out there!  Any of them get hurt by something your cards do, it'll be your ass that gets burned for it!"

            "They've got legs.  Let'em run for cover."

            The judge simply gaped as Happyman walked down the stairs from the platform.  "The people cheer for this guy?"

            The Happyman could hear the judge's final comment just fine.

            (Yeah, try to figure that one out.  I don't get it either.  They like me because I win, and I can't stand them.  Makes me glad Toonami Duel isn't legitimate yet, otherwise they'd have interviews and shit… heh, and I wouldn't get all the fancy endorsement deals, and the tee-shirt sales, and the snack food with my name on it… I'd be booed out of the game.  Can't have that.  If I didn't enjoy the game so much, I wouldn't be here at all.)

            He walked through the main gate out to the parking lot, just a big field next to the stadium.  His was the only car left.

            (The bubble's going to burst on this soon, that much is obvious.  Either we're gonna be the next big thing, or we're gonna get taken down hard.  I don't know which would be better, really… but my money's on shut down.  That judge was right, people are going to get hurt soon.)


End file.
